APPLETON, Wis. -- Adam VanDen Bosch likes dairy farming, but not working with cows, so about four years ago he persuaded his father to switch the family dairy farm to one that milks goats.

"Goats have a lot more personality," VanDen Bosch, 23, said. "They are a lot easier to manage."

Goats are not exactly butting heads with cows for milk-producing supremacy in the state that bills itself as America's Dairyland. But more and more goat herds are grazing on a rural landscape that once was almost exclusively reserved for dairy cows.

The state has about 19,500 goats compared with 1.24 million dairy cows, according to the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service, which surveyed the state's goat dairy industry in September. The survey showed 42 percent of the goat farmers had been milking for less than five years, and 79 percent of them planned to increase their herds over the next five years.

VanDen Bosch, whose family farms north of Appleton in eastern Wisconsin, said size played a role in the decision to choose goats over cows.

"They are big and clumsy," VanDen Bosch said of cows, which average about 1,500 pounds each, compared with 150 to 225 pounds for a goat. "If a cow steps on your foot, you know it."

Most of the goat milk produced in Wisconsin becomes cheese, said Larry Hedrich, president of the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association.

"We are a niche market," he said. "I don't believe the dairy goat industry will ever challenge the dairy cow industry in size in the state. But it will complement it."

Wisconsin's profile in the dairy goat industry got two boosts this year.

In June, Woolwich Dairy, Canada's largest goat cheese processor, announced plans to open its U.S. headquarters in southwestern Wisconsin over the summer. In the fall, the American Dairy Goat Association held its national convention in Milwaukee.

Goat cheeses are a growing part of the state's cheese industry, said John Umhoefer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.

"It's commanding good prices," he said.

Apart from cheese making, goat milk is popular among those with allergies to cow's milk and those who have sensitive digestive systems.

VanDen Bosch said his family began milking goats in 2000 and in 2002 sold off about 60 dairy cows. The farm kept three cows and uses their milk to feed baby goats, he said, adding that their herd has grown to about 200 milking goats.

His father, Richard, 56, said the price of cow's milk was down to about $9 per hundred pounds, or 12 gallons, when the family switched to goats.

"The goats were supporting the cows," he said. "The goat milk price is more consistent. It was hard to budget with the changes in the price for cow's milk."

The family gets about $32 per hundred pounds for goat milk, Adam VanDen Bosch said.

It takes about 10 goats to produce as much milk as a single cow, he said.

But his father added that a farmer can feed about 15 to 20 goats with the amount that must be provided to one cow.

And charm goes a long way.

"A goat, they're a lot more social with each other," Adam VanDen Bosch said. "They're a lot more friendlier with you. They are a lot easier animal to work with."

On the Net:

Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association: www.wdga.org